Sunday, August 17, 2014

Pattern review: Fancy pants leggings




(Words at the bottom.)


Cute bum panel elevates the leggings to fancy pants.  Seriously, it's cute.

Hem by turning up and zigzagging.


Hem with a cuff.

So stinkin' cute.

Unhemmed and rolled for growing room.


PatternFancy pants leggings by Titchy Threads.  I got it as part of a Sew Fab pattern bundle a looong while ago.  Finally got up the guts to try it.  (I'm still a little afraid of knits, but this pattern helped build some confidence.)

Sizing:  The pattern goes from 0-3 months - 10 years.  I made the 3-6 month size (twice) and the 3T with the skinny legs width adjustment and extra length. 

Material used:  Some stretchy knit denim I bought even longer ago at Joann's.  It has spandex in it for good recovery and was pretty nice to sew with.  Unfortunately, it snags a little. 

Notions needed:  None, although you could put elastic in the waistband for extra staying power. 

Appropriately rated:  Yes.  Rated confident beginner and I think that's because of sewing with knits.  With a stable knit fabric anyone could make these.  They were easy and fast and now I want to make all the girls leggings.

Time spent:  An hour including cutting.  Fast!

Caveats:  The waistband didn't have a width adjustment line on it like the leg piece (and I forgot to adjust it), and since the material was so stretchy I really needed to make the adjustment.  They have a tendency to slide down.  I also could have put elastic in the waistband (one of the recommended options).  Another problem I had was the crotch blew out of the first pair the second time Stella wore them.  So, I shortened and widened my zig zag stitch so the thread wouldn't break and reinforced the crotch.  I didn't topstitch the butt seams, but that would have reinforced them as well. 

Comments:  Loved the pattern!  Instructions were complete and easy to follow.  Now I'm itching to make the skinny jeans from Titchy Threads.